Cooperative growth regulation in coral-dwelling fishes.

ABSTRACT: Dominant individuals often grow faster than subordinates because they gain a greater share of important resources. However, dominants should also strategically adjust their growth rates, relative to the size of subordinates, if this improves their reproductive success. Here, we show that individuals in breeding pairs of the coral-dwelling fish Gobiodon histrio regulate their growth to reduce the size difference between partners. In pairs where one individual was larger than the other, the smaller individual increased its growth rate and the larger individual decreased its growth rate, compared to individuals in size-matched pairs. The reproductive success of breeding pairs is limited by the size of the smallest individual in the pair. Therefore, it appears that the larger individual trades

SUBMITTER: Munday PL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1686175 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature